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Book Description

It's 1811, and the threat of revolution haunts the upper classes of King George III's England. Then a beautiful young woman is found savagely murdered on the altar steps of an ancient church near Westminster Abbey. A dueling pistol found at the scene and the damning testimony of a witness both point to one man-Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, a brilliant young nobleman shattered by his experience in the Napoleonic Wars.

It's 1811, and the threat of revolution haunts the upper classes of King George III's England. Then a beautiful young woman is found savagely murdered on the altar steps of an ancient church near Westminster Abbey. A dueling pistol found at the scene and the damning testimony of a witness both point to one man-Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, a brilliant young nobleman shattered by his experience in the Napoleonic Wars.

I am especially partial to historical mysteries set in England; and my interest was piqued when I noticed C. S. Harris' "What Angels Fear" on the bookstore shelves. But I was also a little wary -- after all I had heard nothing about this book -- no advance praise or early review blurbs in magazines/web sites heralding the book's upcoming publication. Fortunately, because I work at a bookstore, I was able to borrow the book, which turned out to be a really good thing 'else I'd have missed one of the most thrilling reads of the year. What an absolutely riveting and breathtaking read "What Angels Fear" proved to be!

In 1811, George III is sinking deeper and deeper into the madness, as his politicians question the wisdom of carrying on England's war with France, as well as whether or not they should support the move to make the profligate Prince of Wales, Regent of England. But for the newly returned ex-soldier, Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, and heir to the powerful Earl of Hendon, the all important question is how he's going to survive an upcoming duel of honour without getting killed or killing his opponent. Having survived that ordeal however, the last thing Sebastian expected later that morning was to have a chief magistrate and a couple of constables at his doorstep, ready to arrest him for the brutal rape and murder of a young actress, Rachel York. Knowing full well that he had no hand in the young woman's murder and realising that the only way for him to clear his name is if he were to investigate the murder himself, Sebastian escapes from the constables and disappears into the bowels of London's poverty stricken streets. There, using his training as an intelligence officer, and the help of a few unorthodox allies, Sebastian begins his hunt for Rachel's killer, questioning her old friends and examining her past, sure that the key to her murder lies in her past, while evading the authorities. The last thing he expected though, was to discover that members of his own family had dealings with the late Miss York. Could one of them have murdered the actress and planted the evidence against him? As the days pass and as the constables begin to get uncomfortably close to arresting him, Sebastian begins to fear that he may never clear his name or discover the identity of the sadist who murdered Rachel York...

I can only say that I'm looking forward to the next installment in this series (if there is one, that is) -- it could go in several different directions, but I'm hoping that the author will keep Sebastian in England no matter what. I thoroughly enjoyed "What Angels Fear" and would heartily recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical mystery novels that possess a clever and engrossing plot that is full of interesting and vivid period details, and characters that engage. Also, the almost relentless pacing lent an air of immediacy and tension to novel, and gave it that edge-of-your-seat feeling and made the book practically unputdownable. "What Angels Fear" brought to mind historical novels by authors such as Bernard Cornwell and Alexander Dumas; I was completely hooked from the very first page, and found the book hard to put down. All in all, an excellent read.Read more ›

"What Angels Fear" begins the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries, of which there are currently two. C.S. Harris starts the story off quickly with the brutal rape and murder of a young actress, Rachel York. The only evidence found at the crime scene seems to implicate Sebastian, and an order is issued for his immediate arrest.

The problem, of course, is that Sebastian didn't commit the murder, and slips away from the arresting constables to try to solve the murder on his own. He puts himself into Rachel's shoes and starts to learn as much as he possibly can about her life with the hope that this knowledge will bring him closer to the real killer.

About three chapters into the novel I had the sense that I was reading a quasi-romance story. Small things tipped me off: lingering on a description of a physical characteristic, an attribute given to a character that pushes the boundaries of suspension of disbelief, that sort of thing. I kept reading, the sense grew stronger, so I flipped to the back of the book to see if there was information about the author. There was...and she had also written award winning historical romances!

Not sure how the rest of the book would turn out, I continued reading, and found that I wasn't much bothered by the elements of the story that were slightly dramatic and would have lent themselves better to romance than a mystery.

The characters are all very well drawn and believable, and the Georgian feel of the novel is also well drawn and believable.

I found much of the writing of this book to be stilted and dry. It was also obvious this was Ms. Harris' first book as it didn't flow very well. I also found the whole idea of a police force run like modern day British police to be a bit of a laugh. As another reviewer mentioned, the police didn't act like this in England for at least another 50 years. Believe me, I'm British, and grew up with stories of Robert Peel (the founder of the British Bobbies) and the like. Sebastian also needs to learn some new language as "Bloody Hell" was said at least 30 times during the book and, in many cases, in a way a true Englishman wouldn't say.

Having said this though, I did give Ms. Harris' second book a try and it was much better. Flows more, more natural speech patterns and more interesting. I'll definitely buy her third book as it looks like a fun read.

Before I get to why you should read this book let me just say that if you enjoy literate historical mysteries of any era you'll want to read this book. It is well-written, perfectly paced, populated by interesting characters and has a murder mystery that is actually a mystery.

C. S. Harris does a fine job of conveying period detail and developing her characters while telling a compelling story. Her hero, Sebastian St. Cyr, will remind readers of Kate Ross's Julian Kestrel with his wit, filmy past and talent for solving murders. This is high praise from me, I love Kate Ross's books. But I'm even more reminded of Dorothy Dunnett's Francis Crawford. Sebastian St. Cyr's disrepute, haunted past, and latent idealism cloaked in cynicism could give Crawford of Lymond a run for his money in the troubled hero sweepstakes.

St. Cyr finds himself accused of one gruesome murder and the main suspect in an attempted murder. Not willing to risk his life to a justice system that is more intent on quieting the matter than solving the crime, he escapes to investigate the murder himself. His investigation takes him into the world of French spies, Jacobins and scandal. The secondary characters are interesting and Harris doesn't overdo the cockney dialect.(Written dialects and accents can really get on my nerves.)

The first chapter starts a bit slow but the actions picks up considerably in the second chapter. After that the pages fly by. This is a great, fun read. The perfect escape after a hard day of work. Here's hoping that C. S. Harris has many more Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries to bring us.

More About the Author

An Air Force brat who grew up exploring castles in Spain and fishing in the mountains of Oregon and Idaho, Candy later worked as an archaeologist and earned a PhD in European history. She now writes the Sebastian St. Cyr historical mystery series under the name C.S. Harris and coauthors a series of contemporary thrillers as C.S. Graham. Married to retired Army Colonel Steve Harris, she lives in New Orleans. Visit her website at www.csharris.net.